I will lead her into the desert
and speak tenderly to her." -Hosea 2
"Go, Child of God, upon the singing desert,
Where, with eyes of flame,
The roaming lion keeps thy road from harm."
-Thomas Merton/The Flight into Egypt
Walked for about an hour this morning at this fairly large park about 15 minutes from my house. The morning couldn't have been any more beautiful. a little steam seemed to be hovering a few feet up from the ground because of the heavy rains the day before. The park affords some slight views of the Ahwatukee foothills just due west. It is a park that has both an urban lake and a little preserve area on it's border (what it's for i'm not sure?).
Now, on any given weekend, other than this Saturday morning, if the weather is slightly warm, this particular park is a zoo. along with some nice playground equipment and some pretty mature trees, they also have a gosh darn train thingy that people pile onto for a goofy little trip around the park....i've done it. Riding the train made me want to wash myself with sanitary wipes as well as the compartment me and my daughter were sitting in....
But not this morning....the place was fairly empty. The birds were just going nuts and i can't get enough of that...grackles, mockingbirds, sparrows, some woodpeckers (not that i spotted any, but i've seen them there before), red winged black birds, and other little birds of which i can't name.
I still don't get this place. late October through early June (sometimes)the place can be just wonderful...like this morning, clean air (due to the rains), fresh breeze, rugged mountain views, birds going nuts, and i still wore shorts, a denim shirt, a ball cap, and a lightweight fleece vest!
When Spring time comes, i usually bounce off the walls...i don't know whether it's because i'm a spring baby or what, but i get "spring fever" real bad...reallly bad. My attention span sucks at work, i look for excuses to be outside, and the bird activity that is so good now doubles in spring....
the picture below is of the superstition mountains just 20 minutes northeast of me...spring time is magic up there...wildflowers, the hills have a green hue to them due to all the wild grass, weeds (some of which have very beautiful flowers), and all the other normal plants and shrubs that 'pop' during this time. it makes the sonoran landscape look 'not' like a desert.
i'm not sure why i'm even rambling on about the desert except this...this barren place that can be so severe in the summer (enough to make me crazy actually) can also be so amazingly beautiful. A hiker's paradise (for 6 months a year), a bird watcher's mecca, a cyclist's dream (lots and lots of cyclists here), and a walker's ideal stomping ground....
how does one deal with June through September though? ;)
Want to swap for a little bit? Have some fun in a Chicago winter?
ReplyDeleteI love Hosea. Was in a band for a long time named 'ammi.
Todd -- those are some mountains of awe. I also like to hike in the hills near me in the SF bay area. Today we went our cousin's daughter's first birthday in Danville. We took the backroads and enjoyed another bit of California's paradise that reminds me that although I live in a metropolitan area there is a peaceful respit just a few minutes away. Thanks for sharing verbal images of your other life too.
ReplyDeleteTodd, First, I love that Thomas Merton. Even my cranky old fundamentalist pal, Dan, had to give up on his anti- Romanism after reading Merton.
ReplyDeleteSecond, I love the Arizona desert too. I just heard from my young friend that they were predicting snow in Tucson. I told her to rush out to the desert. There is nothing more beautiful than snow in a Saguaro forest. Trouble is, Arizona in the summer is about the same as Minnesota in the winter. You're pretty much stuck indoors. You have to be careful when you go out. You could die out there. Oh well. Just remember to keep your ukes from drying out.
Just lately here in California any time the rain lets up for a few minutes I put on my muddy rubber boots and and go slip and slide around in nature. In the summer you just have to get up before the sun and get outside for the desert dawn. It's worth the trouble.
Every year I ask myself the same question...
ReplyDeleteMarcus,
ReplyDeletei honestly have no idea how i'd handle the midwest...i spent about 3 weeks in northen MN in the fall, which was absolutely fabulous, but being from California originally....i wonder how i'd handle the winters in those areas....but, it might be a good swap...summers are flat out crazy here...you can put layers of clothers on, but you can't walk around town naked in the summer heat...well, you could, but you'd probably get in trouble and get nasty sunburns in unwanted areas ha ha ha...
Jeff,
Yeah central and northern california is God's country...the rolling hills, the oak, the redwood forests...the diversity....i've spent some time in petaluma, santa rosa, and tomales/bodega bay area...i've also been to S.F. 3 times....beautiful...
Jon,
Re: Merton...that's excellent ha ha...i've only read a little bit of his work (seeds which is a collection of his stuff)
yes, the desert can be amazing and snow in the 'higher desert' is absolutely lovely!, but summers...yup, sunscreen, lotsa water to stay hydrated, a lot of time in the a/c, and in our case sitting in our blow up 'ghetto pool.' most of July and all of august we hardly ever go to the park and if we do, it's like from 7:00am to 8:00am...that's it.
Jenny,
you too? ha ha ..